Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2010-11 ENTRIES FOR THE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO AGRICULTURAL JOURNALISM AWARD
RUQAYYAH THOMPSON
‘Propensity to Import’
Globalisation is a process propelled by trade and technology. It has led to the creation of international trade and financial organisations such as the World Bank, the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund. These institutions have created new patterns of production and consumption, and have produced a global food system.
The global food system has changed the mode of production in many places. It has converted subsistence farms to large-scale commercial farms. Subsistence farming which involves the production of a variety of crops to feed a household, has been abandoned in many regions of the world. Nowadays, commercial farming of monocrops such as corn and wheat, which rely on external inputs and markets, dominate the world’s agricultural landscape (Potter 2004).
In Trinidad, large scale commercial farming started during the period of colonisation, where labour was imported into the Caribbean to support plantations. After colonialism, agriculture still remained a vibrant industry. But today, agriculture in Trinidad is at an all time low. The shift away from agriculture and towards manufacturing began after the oil boom of the late 1970s. Industries were set up to achieve import substitution, according to which materials were imported and simply processed or assembled here, then exported. Heavy importation of goods have continued and have accelerated over time.
Today, the supermarket shelves are flooded with imported goods, from canned and bottled products to meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables. Foreign produce is sold even at local markets. But how do consumers decide where to shop or what to buy? Have they embraced the slogan “buy local” coined in an age of national self-discovery, under Dr. Eric Williams’s PNM government? Or are they already too attached and dependent on foreign imports?
I conducted interviews at both the Tunapuna market and Hi-Lo supermarket, which generated insights into the world of consumption in Trinidad. All customers at the supermarket stated that they chose to shop there because of time constraints. They felt that it was an ‘all-in-one’ stop, where they could purchase not only vegetables and fruits but other items they required. A young man added that he shopped at the supermarket because it was more convenient for him to buy chicken that was already cleaned, cut and seasoned, saving him time. A female respondent took it a step beyond convenience to say that there was ‘better parking at the supermarket and people not touching yuh’ while she shopped.
By contrast, all the customers at the market said that they chose to shop there because the produce was fresher than at the supermarket. Some also said that it was less expensive than the supermarket. Another young man argued that since the produce sold at Tunapuna retail market is bought daily at the Macoya wholesale market, the food is less-travelled and therefore fresher. He added that at the supermarket the produce is kept refrigerated so ‘yuh doh even know how long it dey.’ A woman interviewed at the supermarket also complained about the quality of the produce available at Hi-Lo. She related an incident to me in which she was attempting to buy string beans, when she noticed almost an entire pack of the product rotten. She drew the attention of a worker to it, who replied, ‘diez all we have.’ My attempts to speak to the manager on more than one occasion proved futile, but fortunately I encountered a customer who was also a worker at another branch of Hi-Lo. She informed me that there is often a backlog of produce in the supermarket, and that some ‘fresh’ produce may stay up to two weeks in cold storage before it reaches the shelves for customers to purchase.
The majority of people interviewed at the market also a made a clear distinction between what they purchased at the market and what they bought at the supermarket. They indicated that the market was where they bought vegetables, fruits and meat, and that the supermarket was for buying other foodstuffs which could not be purchased at the market. Market customers mentioned a long list of items that they would normally purchase which included: provisions, green figs, callaloo bush, potatoes, plantains, tomatoes, peppers, bananas, garlic and seasoning such as chives, celery and parsley. Supermarket customers were much more conservative in stating what they purchased. Most did not identify specific items but stated that they purchased vegetables, fruits, meat, according to one young woman, ‘everything really.’
Customers at both locations said that they were health-conscious, and it is on this basis that they decided what to buy. A number of customers at the market also said that they decided what to buy based on price. One gentleman told me that he walked up and down the market until he got plantains to buy at $4/lb. Other people suggested that they bought what looked better. I found out that they associated what looked better, with better taste. Vendors also agreed that customers decided what to buy based on price and quality. A fruit vendor informed me that many people who buy fruits tell him, ‘the doctor send meh.’
A number of customers at the market were aware of the place of origin of the produce they consumed. Some indicated that they knew where the products they bought came from because they were told by the vendors who they normally purchased items from. Vendors stated that the large majority of their customers were regulars. So there appears to be a relationship between vendor and customer that goes beyond the vendor selling and the customer buying. I was informed that a large amount of provisions came from other Caribbean islands such as St. Vincent. Vendors indicated that apples and grapes were from Chile, carrots form Costa Rica and onions from the US to name a few imported products. At the supermarket, some customers were less aware of the origin of the produce. One woman said, ‘not from Trinidad?’ and another, ‘is not home gardening?’
Most customers interviewed showed no real interest in what was local as opposed to what was imported, so this did not influence what they purchased. However, some customers told me about their specific preferences. A woman related to me that she did not buy local lettuce, and she only bought foreign lettuce at the supermarket because the local lettuce has too much chemicals which sometimes produce a strong, offensive smell. An interviewee at the market also complained about the use of chemicals. He said that he was a Toco boy, that he knew real food and that today the food produced has ‘no love’ in it. Meanwhile, others condoned some foreign goods. A lady asked me ‘have yuh ever been to the US, and taste ah banana?’, I replied that I did not, she said, ‘well it have no taste and I much prefer local bananas, we used to have them in the yard.’
A range of foods were indicated as being eaten regularly. A young customer at the supermarket said that she ate a lot of fast food because she did not have the time to prepare meals. Other foods eaten regularly included: rice, provisions, chicken, fruits and vegetables. However, aged customers asserted that most definitely there was a big difference in what they consumed today, and what they consumed when they were younger. They pointed out that when they were younger they ate more provisions, roti and saltfish and much less chicken. Chicken they said was reserved for Sunday lunch and special occasions. However, today chicken is cheaper than most other meats. It is mass-produced in a much shorter time period, and so has become widely available. One man at the market pointed out that saltfish was now too expensive to purchase, so he buys chicken. An aged couple informed me that they did not eat chicken every day, but that their children had to have it.
The majority of customers at both locations stated that they shopped at their place of preference because of the choices available there. Indeed, globalisation has expanded the choices available to Trinidadians. But as Mintz (1985) points out, the freedom to choose is within a fixed range of possibilities. Very often when Trinidadians do choose, their preference is the imported product. The slogan ‘buy local’ has been neglected, as the country has gone in the opposite direction of favoring local products, and has adopted the propensity to import.
While food is definitely a part of Trini culture, many Trinidadians are no longer attached to the land for food production. Thus, for most people a dish such as oil down or pelau will be local, whether or not the breadfruit and rice used in its preparation are locally grown, or produced elsewhere. What makes the dish local then? Perhaps because it has been cooked by a Trinidadian, or maybe because it has been prepared in Trinidad over a long period of time by its people, or because it was first cooked here.
The findings of this study are similar to my opinions and experiences because I am aware of the country’s declining agricultural sector, and that a large quantity of goods are imported. I am also aware of the struggles that farmers face, and of the lack of investment made in agriculture on the part of the government to assist in the development of the sector. I believe that the most important aspect of being an independent state is to be able to feed one’s own population. Therefore, the agricultural sector must be re-vitalized and many scholars in the field have put forward ways to do so. The government must acknowledge these suggestions and like we Trinis say, ‘pick it up and run with it.’
KARINA ALI
PLANTATION ECONOMIES AND THE ‘PLANTION LEGACY’ IN PRESENT-DAY CARIBBEAN SOCIETIES.
When Christopher Columbus re-discovered the West Indies in 1492, this represented the beginning of the first wave of European immigration into the West Indies. The Spanish were the first consignment of European settlers and they introduced the colonial system. In this system, the European country was the Mother Country or the metropole and the West Indian island was the colony or hinterland. The colony only served the purpose of supplying the Mother Country with resources, mainly agricultural products. This was done by transforming subsistence agriculture practiced by the indigenous groups into large plantations. The more colonies a European country had the more wealth and power it had. This was the main push factor encouraging European countries to come into the West Indies.
Slowly but surely, other European countries began coming into the West Indies, including Britain, France and Holland, causing the Spanish monopoly to be broken. Britain became the main colonising power in the West Indies. Agriculture was the main economic activity in the Caribbean at this time; the planters tried many crops, including cocoa, coffee, cotton and indigo, all of which failed. Sugar proved the most successful crop to cultivate in the West Indies. This was because when compared to the aforementioned crops, it required a somewhat low capital input. Also, honey was now becoming too expensive in Europe. Sugar provided a cheaper alternative. The plantations increased in size and amount and African slavery was introduced into the West Indies as the main form of labour. This was because the indigenous populations had dwindled significantly since colonialism began. With the advent of the sugar boom in the Caribbean, the colonies were now transformed socially and economically, also politically. The plantation economy continued to persist in Caribbean countries even after independence and this is known as the ‘plantation legacy’ (Best 1968). The ‘plantation legacy’ is “The legacy of institutions, structures and behaviour patterns of the plantation system are so deeply entrenched that adjustment tends to take place as an adaptation within the bounds of the established framework” (Best 1968: 32). The plantation economy and the ‘plantation legacy’ have had significant effects on the economies and societies of many Caribbean countries.
The main impact that the plantation economy and the ‘plantation legacy’ have had in Caribbean countries is on the economy. The model of a plantation economy was introduced by Lloyd Best of the University of the West Indies in collaboration with Canadian economist Kari Levitt of McGill University. It is “an historical/structural analysis of economies created by European colonization from the seventeenth century onward, primarily through the establishment of plantations” (Sudama, 1979: 66). Within the British West Indies, the metropolis or Mother Country, in this case Britain, had complete control over all trade that occurred with its colonies. The colonies were not allowed to trade with any other European country besides Britain. Also, the colonies were not allowed to produce any manufactured goods. All raw materials had to be sent from the colony to the Mother Country to be manufactured and then returned to the colony where the colonists would buy these goods at high prices. Sugar cane was grown in the Caribbean and processed into muscovado sugar, which was then shipped to Europe and manufactured into different commodities like rum. This system, whereby trade is controlled by the metropole is known as mercantilism. It ensured that the majority of wealth derived from selling raw materials went to the Mother Country and that total control rested in the hands of the European nations. According to Sudama ‘the metropole’s primary concern in the hinterland was production for export and not for local consumption’ (1979: 66-67). This connection is true for the Caribbean during the period of colonization and is known as the pure plantation economy, which covers the period from 1600 to 1838. The most productive colonies were that of Saint Domingue, now known as Haiti, for France and that of Barbados and Jamaica for Britain. Saint Domingue was regarded as the ‘Pearl of the Antilles’ for the large amounts of sugar produced from that colony on a regular basis. ‘In 1791 Saint Domingue planters exported some 163 million pounds of sugar to France. This was produced on 800 sugar plantations for an average yield of nearly 240,000 pounds…each’ (Stein 1988).
Many people believe that the mercantilist relationship between the Caribbean and Europe ceased after independence. However, ‘the relationship of the metropolis to the colony (or hinterland) and the structure of the latter’s economy which, with some modification, has persisted to the present’ (Sudama 1979: 66). This phase within the plantation economy model is known as the ‘plantation economy further modified, which runs from 1938 onwards (ibid.). Many Caribbean countries in the present are heavily dependent on European countries, the United States of America or both for trade. Mercantilism still seems to be evident in today’s society with countries practicing ‘comparative advantages’, according to which countries specialize in the production of goods that are deemed to be the best suited for them. This dependency can be traced back to the legacy of the plantation economy created primarily by European capital, the exploitation of the region’s soil and its people, and African slave labour. Insofar as it was possible, all economic activities in the region were geared toward the production of sugar and food for Europe’s expanding working classes, and raw materials for its industries, while almost everything else, including commodities for local consumption were imported from the metropolitan centers of Europe and North America’ (Rose 2002: 49). ‘Dependency theory explains underdevelopment in the Caribbean as a consequence of outside economic and political influences’ to the point where they achieve “exploited status” on the world stage’ (ibid.).
In the case of Trinidad and Tobago, it can be argued that there is a ‘dependency relationship with the new metropolis, the United States’ (Sudama 1979: 73). The conditions of this association include economic terms which are ‘postulated by the plantation economy model (re: trade, investment, technology, etc)” (ibid.). Much of Trinidad and Tobago’s food is imported from the United States, including food that could be produced locally. In turn, the United States imports large quantities of natural gas and oil from Trinidad and Tobago. Therefore, Trinidad and Tobago has a heavy dependence on foreign currency from the United States. Also, capital goods and technology are imported. This is because the country’s internal resources are not mobilized effectively. Output of local sectors are not used as inputs into the other local sectors. This is due to the restrictions implemented by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as rules concerning debt conditionalities, resulting in a high import bill for the country. This high import bill results from the fact that local farmers are not given subsidies for their goods. This would result in imported goods being cheaper than local goods. The government would also be required to participate in free trade and open up their markets to foreign goods. One can assume that many of the local products are sold to foreign markets because it brings in much needed foreign currency into the country and also the local sector is geared towards production for export and not for local consumption.
However, the locally produced foods found within Trinidad and Tobago, such as vegetables and fruits, are cheaper than the food imported and sold in the supermarkets. The country’s agricultural system is somewhat unique to that of the Caribbean because its economy depends mainly on oil and natural gas since the country has a thriving petroleum industry. This can be compared to the bauxite industry in Jamaica. Not much emphasis has been placed on the agricultural sector until recent times. Due to the increasing food prices, there is a developing trend of returning to the land. Many households now grow their own kitchen gardens in an effort to decrease their household food bill. This is also encouraged by the new government, the People’s Partnership, which has been crusading for the returned interest to the agricultural sector.
Jamaica is another example of a Caribbean country in present day times which has a heavy reliance on a foreign country. This occurs quite subtly with the intervention of the International Monetary Fund (IMG) loans given to that in 1977. The conditions imposed upon the country by the IMF sees the dependence of Jamaica on the metropolis in an indirect way. The IMF intervenes in a country if there are balance of payment deficits. This would happen if the country’s imports exceed its exports, causing the country to be unable to repay its debts. It uses the “leverage of ‘lender of last resort’” to ensure that a ‘country with a balance of payments disequilibrium does not institute measures that constitute national barriers to international mobility of capital and commodities’ (Bernal 1984: 53). This includes ‘inconvertibility of currency, exchange controls, deferred debt payments, and tariffs and quota restrictions’ (Bernal 1984: 53). This means that the ‘accumulation of capital at a world level often impedes development in the underdeveloped countries’ (ibid.).
The IMF first entered into Jamaica in the post-independence period when Jamaica was a new nation in the eyes of the world. This resulted in Jamaica now having to incur a profound debt to the IMF and also to have an open economy. This meant that Jamaica had to trade on a global scale. Due to the fact that it is an open economy, Jamaica now has a hefty import bill, as a ‘substantial proportion of consumption is satisfied from imports’ (Bernal, 1984: 57). This has had a drastic effect on the agricultural sector. ‘In 1976, food products amounted to J$52.9 million, or 23.7 per cent of total agricultural production, while imports of food, much of which could be produced locally, totalled J$80.1 million’ (ibid.). It meant that locally produced food was more expensive than imported food. This resulted in many local farmers having to go out of business and wastage of food. A similar situation is occurring in Trinidad and Tobago today.
The role of the Mother Country is still played by Europe and the U.S. but it is now called a ‘developed’ country. The colony is still seen as the Caribbean but it is now called a ‘developing’ country. Instead of the former colony producing food for the Mother Country, the Mother Country now gives food to the colony in the form of exports to the colony. This is different from the colonial period because the roles are now reversed. Instead of the former colony growing food for the European country, the European Country now grows food for the former colony. The former colony is dependant on food from the European country. However, the fact still remains that the relationship between the European Country and the colony is still one of mercantilist in nature. The European Country only sees the colony as existing for the sole purpose of producing wealth for the European Country. In the present day Caribbean, this wealth is derived from the former colony when it purchases imports from the European Country.
The second impact that the plantation economy and the ‘plantation legacy’ has in Caribbean countries today is on society. During the pure plantation economy period (1600-1838), the colonies developed their culture based on the culture of the metropole. This persisted in the plantation economy modified period (1838-1938). The planters and colonists longed to return to their European country of birth to partake in that lifestyle. However, as time continued and the colonist began to establish their own families within the Caribbean, a new culture was created. This is known as creole culture. It consists of tangible and intangible features of the Caribbean. The tangible includes the food, musical instruments and clothes which originate in the Caribbean. The intangible elements comprise of the music, religious celebrations and the day to day habits of the people.
The ‘plantation economy’ has left behind a living legacy which is known as the ‘plantation legacy’. This legacy is one where the local people of the Caribbean place a profound emphasis on foreign goods due to the notion that these are of better quality than that of the locally produced goods. This has implications that it is more socially acceptable to purchase these goods and those that do are of a high social standing within the societal pyramid. This is reflected in the economy as well as there is ‘the persistence of foreign-dictated taste patterns’ (Sudama 1979: 73).
Within Trinidad and Tobago, many consumers are of the belief that foreign produced goods are of better quality than locally produced goods. This is seen when they venture into supermarkets whereby brands such as Kellogg’s are more easily purchased than the locally produced Sunshine Snacks; K-Cel is denied for Adidas; Just U.S.A. is chosen over Westport. Therefore, the country has a high import bill as the needs and wants of the consumers are being met. This reflects a mercantilist relationship between metropole and hinterland as the metropole uses the status of a more highly developed culture to infiltrate the culture of the hinterland. This results in the hinterland now wanting to resemble that of the metropole. This is an example of how the culture of the colonising country in the seventeenth century has survived in the present day Caribbean. However, the role of the metropole is now played by that of the United States, while the hinterland is still played by the Caribbean.
With the simple act of Europe looking for a source of raw materials in its activities of colonising the West Indies, the present day Caribbean has been changed forever. On the other hand, it is nice to wonder for a moment what life would have been like if Columbus had never stumbled into the Caribbean Sea and landed on Hispaniola in 1492. The indigenous peoples would now still be alive. The Kalinagos, Tainos, Mayans, Aztecs and Incas, along with the minor groups would all be thriving well in the Caribbean and Latin America. Certain diseases such as smallpox, influenza, bubonic plague and pneumonic plagues were introduced by Europeans to the West Indies. Their subsistence form of agriculture would still be practised today, for even though in the eyes of the Europeans this system was seen as primitive, it was actually the opposite. The Indigenous people had developed an agricultural system that was fashioned to meet their dietary and nutritional needs. They never went hungry. On the contrary, in most cases, they had excess and even developed an economic system based on taxation that used the agricultural produce as a form of currency. The Caribbean would not have been plundered by other countries. The land would not have been raped in order to suit the capitalist needs of another. The people would have maintained their close relationship to the land. There would not of been the widespread upheaval of any group of people, that caused so much pain and suffering to them, just so that they could have entered into the institution of chattel slavery and indentureship to be used as labour on large plantations. The culture of vast amounts of groups of people destroyed and lost forever. All of the aforementioned effects resulted from the formation of a plantation economy and the ‘plantation legacy’.
The plantation economy is a model aimed at analysing the economies created as a result of European colonisation occurring in the Caribbean from the seventeenth century. The effects observed in present day Caribbean countries are known as the ‘plantation legacy’. The main characteristic is the European country or the Mother Country, also known as the metropole, using the Caribbean or colony, also known as the hinterland, in an exploitative manner. The colony was mainly seen as the producers of food and raw materials for the Mother Country. This resulted in the transformation of the agricultural sector of the colony. This exploitative relationship still exists in the present day Caribbean with the main effects being felt in the economy and society of the Caribbean countries.
REFERENCE LIST
Beckford, G 1972 Persistent Poverty: Underdevelopment in Plantation Economies in the Third World, Oxford University Press, New York.
Bernal, R 1984, ‘The I.M.F. and Class Struggle in Jamaica, 1977-1980’, Latin American Perspectives, vol. 11, no. 3 Destabilization and Intervention in the Caribbean, pp. 53-82, viewed on 22 Sept. 2010, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2633290.
Best, Lloyd 1968. ‘Outlines of a Model of the Pure Plantation Economy’, Social and Economic Studies, vol. 17, no. 3, (September 1968), pp. 283-326.
Rose, A 2002, Dependency and Socialism in the Modern Caribbean: Superpower Intervention in Guyana, Jamaica, and Grenada, 1970-1985, Lexington Book, United States of America.
Shepherd, S & Beckles, H (eds) 2000, Caribbean Slavery in the Atlantic World: A Student Reader, Ian Randle Publishers Limited, Kingston.
Sudama, T 1979 ‘The Model of the Plantation Economy: The Case of Trinidad and Tobago’, Latin American Perspectives, vol. 6, no.1 Socialism and Imperialism in the Caribbean, pp. 65-83, viewed 6 Sept. 2010, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2633275.
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